Cabán questions DOHMH on 988 crisis line data for TGNB youth
Cabán asks whether DOHMH has seen utilization changes since federal actions and how it monitors them. Davidoff says 988 counselors are trained on LGBTQ youth needs and referrals, but anonymous, time-limited crisis calls limit demographic tracking.
And to that point of suicide prevention strategy, I just want to move to 988 for a second because that's another tool that we have for people of
not just different gender identities, but just different experiences, different demographics.
Has DOHMH seen changes in the crisis line or behavioral health service utilization amongst TGNB youth since federal actions began?
And do you know how it's being monitored at this point?
Yeah, thanks for that question.
So we are very cognizant of the stressors that TGNB individuals are experiencing as a result of federal actions.
And the, of course, Health Department remains committed to improving LGBTQ health and well-being.
The 988 counselors do receive specific training on meeting the needs of LGBTQ youth communities and the specialized services that are available to them.
So if a caller requests LGBTQ plus specialized services, the counselors are able to make that referral.
And there is also a searchable database online when any New Yorker can use to find services that are affirming.
However, the intervention, because of the nature of the intervention, because it is a time-limited crisis intervention, and it is anonymous, we don't require the caller to offer any demographic information.
we may not be able to track with confidence, right, the number of callers to identify as
TGB and B or LGBTQ broadly.
And so we only have demographics for a very small number of those callers.
So yeah, right now we can't accurately give you a demographic trend.